Over four consecutive evenings, White Columns, in association with PERFORMA 09, will host a series of narrative performances by Alexandre Singh. Taking the mantle from Homer, Singh will be relating from memory The Alkahest, a series of interwoven tales composed by Singh featuring golems, monks, parrots, 20th century abstract painters and the creation of the world. In addition he will be giving three distinct lectures entitled the Assembly Instructions; a series of rhapsodic academic discourses in which two overhead projectors display a variety of images collaged by Singh, forming the backbone of a meandering discussion that ranges from Ikea to Giordano Bruno and from Snow White to Oranges.

Currently based in New York, Alexandre Singh (b. 1980, Bordeaux, France), explores a variety of media and exhibition formats, working in literature, collages, installations and performances. His works often combine elements of reality with fiction, reassessing historical and narrative conventions and questioning systems of knowledge and interpretation. Recent projects include The Marque of the Third Stripe, a series of environmental installations based upon a gothic novella written by Singh, reimagining the life of Adi Dassler, founder of the Adidas sports empire. Singh received a BFA from Oxford University (UK) in 2001 and an MFA from the School of Visual Arts (New York) in 2005. This is White Columns third collaboration with Singh: in 2005 he was included in the group exhibition ‘Open Walls’, and in 2007 he had a solo ‘White Room’ exhibition. Since then his work has been shown to great acclaim internationally, and is currently on view at Harris Leibermann Gallery, New York. (17 October – November 14, 2009.)